{"id":49753,"date":"2021-01-13T17:45:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T17:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=49753"},"modified":"2022-11-07T20:10:51","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T04:10:51","slug":"qa-how-cios-can-build-a-data-centric-culture-with-andrew-beers-cto-tableau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/au\/blog\/qa-how-cios-can-build-a-data-centric-culture-with-andrew-beers-cto-tableau\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: How CIOs Can Build a Data-Centric Culture With Andrew Beers, CTO, Tableau"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The acceleration in digital transformation across industries in 2020 has been nothing short of astounding, with projects that were expected to roll out over a few years happening much more quickly<\/a>. Such speedy innovation relies on technologists and their teams pulling out all the stops, as well as on an underlying culture that embraces data-driven decision-making, innovative approaches, and the idea of launching before testing and iterating.  <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We sat down with Tableau CTO Andrew Beers to chat about the role of a data culture in enabling innovation, how CIOs can build a data-centric culture in their organisations, and how data and real-time insights can empower an entire business, rather than being hidden within the IT function.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is a data culture so important \u2013 why should the CIO look to build that culture?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Beers:<\/b> Given the challenges of this year, organisations are increasingly coming under pressure to be decisive and there is less room for error. That\u2019s why embedding a \u2018data culture\u2019 into organisations is becoming a high priority for many CIOs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, a data culture requires all staff and decision-makers to make decisions and changes according to data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data culture works in a couple of ways, and the most important is building an understanding of how to use data well. You have to start with the goals and the outcomes you want, and work backwards to ensure you\u2019re accessing the right data you need for those outcomes. Doing that well takes a really good data culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies that can use data effectively in this way will see that the vast majority of their work is informed by data \u2013 every team is empowered and enabled to make decisions and take impactful actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ll actually be a data company, with tools such as Tableau used enterprise-wide and strategically relevant use cases for data insights across the business \u2013 from people and culture, customer service,  sales and marketing, reporting and forward planning, or risk management and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ll also use data in really interesting ways, not just to segment and better understand trends and patterns in specific markets, but also to create learnings and recognise commonalities between various markets, to achieve better outcomes for their customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That shift for a business \u2013 to thinking of itself as a data company \u2013 would be a big change for most organisations. Do you think such great change should be achieved through incremental change or full-scale transformation?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew:<\/b> Getting to a place you wouldn\u2019t have got to otherwise \u2013 making a great shift \u2013 is the domain of transformation. You just wouldn\u2019t expect that through an incremental approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now though, the old-style \u2018transformation project\u2019 doesn\u2019t cut it \u2013 constant change is required to meet customers\u2019 and stakeholders\u2019 ever-higher expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where there\u2019s very much room for both transformation and ongoing incremental improvement \u2013 transformation makes the change, then it\u2019s through incremental improvement you continue to reach higher, to go from good to really great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And data actually plays an important role in both. In the former, it can help you decide which transformation path to choose; in the latter, it can help you figure out what is delivering improvement and what is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hear from organisations that they\u2019re data rich and knowledge poor. How would this be hindering their ability to improve or adapt?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew:<\/b> If I have a bunch of data that\u2019s not appropriate for answering a specific question, then it doesn\u2019t matter that I have that data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I said earlier, you need to start with the outcomes and work backwards to identify what data you need rather than sucking up all the available data and hoping it will reveal a helpful truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have to think through the questions you need answered (that is, the analytics) and ensure your data supports answering them. This is the core of data literacy and a strong data culture: when you match data to a problem that needs solving, then that data can be turned into knowledge or action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also some fundamentals that need to be in place. One is around identifying the master repository for certain types of data. Often, one of the reasons you can\u2019t rely on data is because you don\u2019t know if you\u2019re using the most accurate or the most up-to-date set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another is the tools. Data richness and knowledge paucity may be a symptom of tools that aren\u2019t providing \u2013 or being used to provide \u2013 the necessary insights. Sure you can visualise your data to get some basic summaries, but valuable outcomes require tools that let you shift perspectives, ask the next question, bring in other data and share those results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How then can CIOs use their influence and expertise to change a wealth of data into a wealth of knowledge, for the right outcomes?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew: <\/b>The CIO is the one defining the standards, defining the governance, securing and protecting the data, and providing those tools that help all stakeholders use the data beyond those basic summaries \u2013 to shift perspectives, collaborate and ask that next question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CIO is the executive champion of change. You need somebody up there in the C-suite who can influence across multiple functions, champion data culture, champion people using data properly and make data a part of every conversation that the leadership team has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about employee experience \u2013 what is the impact on business users of having secure, easy-to-use tools for data analysis?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew: <\/b>Security and ease of use are both important \u2013 security more so to the IT team and usability more so to the end user \u2013 and this is far more important currently than was previously the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the usability front, tech used outside the business has changed much faster than tech inside the business. People have grown used to excellent, simple, secure technology, so if that\u2019s not available in the business, it\u2019s frustrating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The APAC Employee Engagement Report<\/a> shares insights to support IT and people leaders as their businesses accelerate to growth.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Beers is CTO at Tableau.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n